Relief Worker to Share Personal Account of Rwandan Genocide

Nov 08, 2005

OGDEN, Utah – The Rev. Carl Wilkens, a former relief worker in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, will give two presentations at Weber State University on Nov. 16.

At 11 a.m., Wilkens will address “Seeds of Genocide” in the Shepherd Union Wildcat Theater. Wilkens will hold another event at 7 p.m. in the Lindquist Alumni Center where he will discuss “The Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide: A Comparison.” Both events are free and part of Human Rights Week at WSU.

Wilkens headed the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) as a missionary in Rwanda with the Seventh-day Adventist Church for four years prior to the killing of 800,000 Tutsi Rwandans in 1994. Although he was encouraged by the United States government to evacuate – advice his colleagues and family members heeded – Wilkens chose to stay to try to help anyone he could.

After spending three weeks trapped inside his home sheltering four people, he finally was able to leave his property. Wilkens spent the next two months bargaining with looters and guerrilla soldiers in an effort to feed children in three local orphanages. He is credited with saving hundreds of lives in the process.

Wilkens’ visit to WSU is co-sponsored by Amnesty International and WSU’s Holocaust Commemoration Committee.

ATTENTION REPORTERS & EDITORS: If you are interested in covering this event, please contact the office of Media Relations at 626-7212 at least 24 hours before these events so we can reserve a seat for you and/or for a photographer. Thank you for your continuing coverage of WSU.